skewer

[ skyoo-er ]

noun

1. a long pin of wood or metal for inserting through meat or other food to hold or bind it in cooking.
2. any similar pin for fastening or holding an item in place.

verb (used with object)

1. to fasten with or as if with a skewer.

skewer

/ ˈskjʊə /

noun

1. a long pin for holding meat in position while being cooked, etc
2. a similar pin having some other function
3. chess a tactical manoeuvre in which an attacked man is made to move and expose another man to capture

verb

1. tr to drive a skewer through or fasten with a skewer

Other Words From

• un·skewered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of skewer¹

First recorded in 1670–80; earlier skiver < ?

Word History and Origins

Origin of skewer¹

C17: probably from dialect skiver

Example Sentences

That’s easily enough room for a full dinner for four, fitting five burgers, and several skewers of veggies at once.

From Popular-Science

Meat thermometers, tongs, forks, skewers, rotisseries, grilling gloves, and every other grilling tool imaginable can have a nice, orderly place to hide when not in use.

From Popular-Science

Other tools may be needed for specialized cooking, like skewers for kabobs and a rotisserie for roasting a chicken.

From Popular-Science

I helped myself to a buffet of shrimp cocktail and skewers of bacon and beef, then settled at a table next to an elderly couple from north of town.

From Washington Post

Thread the chicken onto metal skewers and place the kebabs on a foil-lined pan.

From Outside Online

Satirists occupy a perilous position—to skewer dogma and cant, and to antagonize the establishment while needing its protection.

From The Daily Beast

Obama has been at it again the last few weeks, taking his act on the road to comically skewer the climate change deniers.

From The Daily Beast

Without context, subtlety, and commentary, a parody begins to look eerily like the scenario it is attempting to skewer.

From The Daily Beast

At their luckiest, some writers skewer the present while accidentally anticipating events to come.

From The Daily Beast

To find out why Judge & Co. decided to skewer Silicon Valley, and how they went about doing it, we recently gave them a call.

From The Daily Beast

Lay them on a hot tin that the paste may rise and fry them in lard not too hot, turning them with a skewer.

From Project Gutenberg

He was clad in tattered garments, surmounted by an old sack, fastened together round his shoulders with a wooden skewer.

From Project Gutenberg

Put the skewer between the buttered bars of the gridiron, dust them a little with pepper and brown them.

From Project Gutenberg

If its surface is not well covered with a layer of fat, place several pieces of salt pork on it and tie or skewer them fast.

From Project Gutenberg

Then skewer the front legs back under the body in the same way.

From Project Gutenberg